Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate, and Ifeanyi Okowa, his running mate, were both absent from the Tuesday meeting of a select committee of the PDP’s National Working Committee, as were some disgruntled members of the Integrity group led by former governor Nyesom Wike.
Umar Bature, the PDP’s national organising secretary, stated that the conference was called to ease tension and spark internal party reconciliation following the election.
He advised its members to exercise caution while blaming others because they contributed to the outcome of the general elections in 2023.
He said the party would not apportion blame, suspend, expel, or accuse anybody of participating in pro- or anti-party activities during the last general elections.
“This party believes that Atiku Abubakar won the election, but we are in court, and without prejudice to what the court will decide, we will keep it aside. Let me acknowledge that this is not a NEC meeting, but an interactive meeting with the aim of jump-starting a reconciliation process.
“We are here today and everyone knows what happened in 2023. We contributed both individually and collectively. If you rise to speak, I beg you to spell out your own role in the 2023 elections, either positive or negative before you jump to accuse someone else, either negative or positive.”
Umar Damagun, said the meeting was in continuation of the National Working Committee’s consultation with critical stakeholders, in a bid to chart the way forward for the party after the last election.
“This meeting will give us the opportunity to review the outcome of the last general elections and to share ideas about how to strengthen the party to face the challenges ahead.
“We have had a series of meetings with the members of the National Ex Officio, state Chairmen, select BoT, and members of the National Assembly. This is a continuation of that meeting and it was borne out of what has happened during those meetings and we said there was a need for us to call this one.”
This is not the first time the PDP will be calling for the reconciliation of its members after the 2023 general elections, which it went into with a divided house.
Earlier in June, at a retreat in Bauchi, Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde called on stakeholders of the party to put aside their differences and work towards the unity of the party, saying “the healing process must start now”.